Raikkonen: “Too early for predictions”

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen is happy with the performance of the SF70H during the winter testing but admits it might not have revealed the exact situation of the 2017 Formula One season.

The Finn, who has scored the fastest time of the whole test at Barcelona, is cautious in terms of making predictions ahead of the season opening race in Australia and suggests a more appropriate picture will be seen in China.

“There’s a good feeling with this car and that’s the most important thing. We have been reliable for almost all of these days of testing and that is another good sign of the great work the team has done over the winter,” says Raikkonen.

“We are starting from a stronger base than last year: but it’s really too early to say how fast the car is compared to the others. Perhaps even Melbourne won’t give a 100 per cent precise picture of the situation, because the first race is always a bit unusual. We might have to wait until China.

“Either way I’d like to thank everyone in the team, because they have always managed to step in and sort out all the small problems that testing is supposed to resolve.”

Over the four days of testing this week, the SF70H has completed a total of 488 laps in the hands of its both drivers, equal to 2271.64km.